Inclement Weather Info

The decision to implement an abbreviated day schedule requires the coordinated efforts of many people. Dr. Cleveland and other staff members, Department of Public Safety, and the Department of Student Transportation (DOST) gather information regarding weather and road conditions in order to determine whether our school buses can safely deliver students to school and whether staff, parents and student drivers can safely reach our campuses. It is not an exact science: conditions can vary widely in different parts of town and sometimes conditions change after a decision has been made.

The Superintendent of Schools, Dr. Cleveland, makes the final decision to implement an abbreviated day schedule or cancellation of school. In the very rare instances she is not available, the decision is made by the Associate Superintendent of Curriculum/Instruction and/or the Chief Operations Officer (the Superintendent's deputies).

The abbreviated day schedule is a shortened school day which begins two hours later than the regular schedule, but ends at the regular time. Bus schedules are also delayed two hours. Notification is usually made by 5:30 a.m. Should the complete cancellation of school be necessary, notification is usually given by 7:30 a.m. Information is provided to the network television stations (Channels 2, 4, 7, and 13), to 770 KKOB-AM, and is provided to parents via phone and e-mail. It is also posted to the district and school websites. Please avoid calling your child's school or the district office for this information, since staffing will at best be limited (employees have the same challenges getting to schools in bad weather as parents and students).

If severe weather conditions materialize during the school day, the decision for an “early dismissal” will be made by 11:30 a.m. in order to arrange for school buses to arrive at your schools prior to normal dismissal time. The most efficient schedule for most school buses after 11:30 a.m. is to complete its preschool runs and to begin the “three tiered” schedule for that particular day.

S.A.F.E before- and after-school program:

In the event of a delayed school schedule due to inclement weather, the S.A.F.E. program WILL NOT operate the before school portion of the program, but will operate as normal during the after school portion of the program.

In the event of an early release school schedule due to inclement weather, the school will notify parents to pick up their children and the S.A.F.E. Program WILL NOT operate if school is dismissed early.

In the event of school cancellation, NEITHER the before- or after-school program will operate.

It is recommended that families have a plan in place for school weather delays and closures as well as other emergencies.
ALL PARENTS: Please make sure that your contact information (especially addresses and home/cell phone numbers) have been updated in your child’s school record so that our school staff and phone notification system are able to reach the correct person in the case of emergencies or for attendance calls. For more information about the Emergency Notification System, click here.
​

NOTE: If late-arrival schedule happens on a Wednesday, dismissal time is what it is on a regular Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, or Friday!

While schools have different "bell schedules", most schools on an abbreviated day schedule will utilize the following instructional times:

School Inclement Weather Schedules

S.A.F.E. Before and After School Programs

Before-school programs are cancelled on late-arrival days.

Preschool Programs (Shining Stars Preschool)

NO morning classes.
Afternoon classes begin at 12:35 PM.

Elementary Schools (except CDN and PDS)

11:00am - 4:00pm

Colinas del Norte Elementary & Puesta del Sol Elementary

9:30am - 1:55pm

Middle Schools

10:10am - 3:15pm

RRHS, CHS & Desert Pathways

9:20am - 2:29pm

Independence High School

9:45am - 11:35am (PM classes on regular schedule)

Rio Rancho Cyber Academy

M-Th: 11:00am - 4:00pmFriday: No classes if delay is called

To get information about school schedules during inclement weather, watch/listen to:

Radio:
KOB - AM 770
KOB - FM 93.3
KRST - FM 92.3

Television:
KOB - CHANNEL 4
KOAT - CHANNEL 7
KRQE - CHANNEL 13

Here's great information about weather!

AccuTraffic: From here, you can get the latest report about road conditions on American highways. Simply click Traffic, click a state, and then click Weather-Related Road Conditions. Weather reports are also available from this site.

USA Today Online Weather Almanac: For travel planning, this site offers monthly climate data for cities the world over. Go here to find out what the average monthly high and low temperatures, rainfall, and snowfall are in a vacation spot that you're eyeing.

The Weather Channel: While you're deciding whether to pack a sweater or umbrella, pay a visit to the Weather Channel. By entering a city or zip code, you can find out what meteorologists think the weather will be for the coming week at your destination.

Do you remember what Mark Twain said about the weather?
He said, "Everybody talks about meteorology, but nobody does anything about it."